Rob Colletti doing his best Jack Black opposite a dozen of the most multi-talented tweens ever to burn up a stage add up to the fun-for-all-ages Broadway musical delight that is Andrew Lloyd Webber and Julian Fellowes’ School Of Rock, now playing at Orange County’s Segerstrom Center For The Arts.

 You heard that right. Letting down their heavy-metal hair, Phantom Of The Opera’s Sir Andrew (new music), Downton Abbey’s Fellowes (book), and Glenn Slater (lyrics) turn the 2003 movie mega-smash into the crowd-pleasing tale of still aspiring 30something rocker Dewey Finn (Colletti), who facing pressure from his longtime roommate/former bandmate Ned Schneebly (Matt Bittner) and Ned’s ball-busting girlfriend Patty Di Marco (Emily Borromeo) to pay some long-overdue rent, secretly accepts a substitute teaching gig offered to Ned without his roommate’s knowledge and heads off to rock snooty Horace Green School like it’s never been rocked before.

Assigned twelve carefully regimented, parentally pressured ten-year-olds, Dewey makes no effort whatsoever to teach the tightly-wound tots until he overhears them practicing in music class and realizes that with kids as talented as these, he might just score the Battle Of The Bands victory that has eluded him for years.

 And what gifted rock musicians these youngsters turn out to be, in particular keyboardist Lawrence (Theo Mitchell-Penner), guitarist Zack (Vincent Molden), bassist Katie (swing Bella Fraker), and drummer Freddy (Gilberto Moretti-Hamilton), with backup singers Shonelle (Olivia Bucknor) and Marcie (Alyssa Emily Marvin) giving them a run for their money in the voice department, and painfully shy new girl Tomika (Grier Burke) revealing why backup’s not her thing.

The Vogue magazines that Billy (Huxley Westmeier) keeps hidden from his über-macho dad make the future flamer the perfect stylist, techie Mason (Carson Hodges) seems born to design lighting and FX, James (Cameron Trueblood) is more than willing to take charge of security, and since every rock band must have its roadies, who better than Sophie (Gabriella Uhl) to fill this role.

Now all Dewey has to do is get chief nemesis Summer (Iara Nemirovsky) on his side and the newly christened The School Of Rock just might stand a chance of winning The Battle Of The Bands, that is if our heavyweight hero can keep Rosalie Mullins (understudy Elysia Jordan), the school’s not at all unattractive principal, from discovering what’s afoot.

 Completing the cast of characters are assorted teachers, parents, and ex-bandmates, all of whom must be kept in the dark until The School Of Rock trounces the competition assuming Dewey’s rock stardom dreams can finally come true.

A far cry from Lloyd Webber’s operatic Phantom or Fellowes’s posh Downtonians, The School Of Rock scores all-around top marks, from Dewey’s outrageous behavior in and out of the classroom to its individualized parent-teacher relationships (Tomika is being raised by a gay couple, Freddie’s father belittles his intelligence, Zack’s businessman dad has no time for a son, let alone one with creative gifts, etc.) to the romantic sparks that might well ignite between principal and substitute teacher if only the former can let out her inner Stevie Nicks.

 Add to this Laurence Connor’s lively direction, composer Lloyd Webber and lyricist Slater’s songs (as catchy as “The Music Of The Night,” but a lot louder), JoAnne M. Hunter’s prepubescent-energy-packed choreography, kids who can not only dance and sing but honest-to-goodness play the guitars they strum, the ivories they tickle, and the drums they beat, and above all a charismatic, high-octane star-turn by Colletti that recalls the movie’s Black at his most unrestrained as well as Book Of Mormon’s Elder Cunningham and Spelling Bee’s William Barfee, both of which Colletti has under his belt. (Indeed the role of Dewey is so draining that Best Lead Performance Scenie winner Merritt David Janes takes over the role on Thursdays and Saturday and Sunday matinees).

Jordan is downright terrific as Rosalie, and just wait till the principal hits rafters-high notes in “Where Did The Rock Go?” As for Dewey’s roommate and Patty, even more fun than seeing the fiery Borromeo boss the equally fine Bittner around is watching the latter finally show some cojones.

School Of Rock’s colorblind-cast adults Patrick Clanton, Kristian Espiritu, Melanie Evans, Liam Fennecken, swing/assistant dance captain Kara Haller, Deidre Lang, Sinclair Mitchell, Jamison Moss, Tim Shea, and Hernando Umana do dynamic double, triple, and even quadruple duty each and every one.

 Most sensational of all are School Of Rock’s twelve kid rockers, with special snaps to quadruple-threats Fraker, Mitchell-Penner, Molden, and Moretti-Hamilton for being more than ready to head up their own instrument-playing rock band.

Bang-up backup is provided by conductor/musical director Martyn Axe and the School Of Rock pit orchestra, with production design kudos shared by Broadway crème-de-la-crèmers Natasha Katz (lighting design), Anna Louizos (scenic and costume designs), Josh Marquette (hair design), and Mick Potter (sound design).

 Associate director David Ruttura and associate choreographer Patrick O’Neill keep things looking and sounding Grade-A on the road. Larry Smiglewski is production stage manager. Swing Christopher DeAngelis is dance captain.

Rivaling The Book Of Mormon for outrageous fun (but with the added advantage that parents won’t have to shield kids’ profanity-sensitive ears), The School Of Rock will rock your socks off as you stand up and cheer its most unlikely of heroes.

.

Segerstrom Center For The Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Through August 5. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 7:30. Saturdays at 2:00 and 7:30. Sundays at 1:00 and 6:30. Reservations: 714 556-2787
www.scfta.org

–Steven Stanley
July 24, 2018
Photos: Matthew Murphy

Tags: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Glenn Slater, Julian Fellowes, Orange County Theater Review, Segerstrom Center For The Arts